Isn't Life Wonderful?

This morning I meditate on things that make me giddy. For instance, this from LiveScience (thanks James Taranto):

Warming temperatures are melting patches of ice that have been in place for thousands of years in the mountains of the Canadian High Arctic and in turn revealing a treasure trove of ancient hunting tools.

Or this from the Old Testament:

A group of Chinese and Turkish evangelical explorers say wooden remains they have discovered on Mount Ararat in eastern Turkey are the remains of Noah's Ark.

The group claims that carbon dating proves the relics are 4,800 years old, meaning they date to around the same time the ark was said to be afloat. Mt. Ararat has long been suspected as the final resting place of the craft by evangelicals and literalists hoping to validate biblical stories.

Yeung Wing-Cheung, from the Noah's Ark Ministries International research team that made the discovery, said: "It's not 100 percent that it is Noah's Ark, but we think it is 99.9 percent that this is it."

By the way, I love carbon dating. Some of the best experiences of my life occurred when I was out on a carbon date.

But shouldn't it be asked whether the tools left under the ice were used to build Noah's Ark?

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Long ago I wondered in front of my friends (who were rightly concerned) what life would be like if some sense other than sight or hearing was the dominant sense humans relied upon. "What if it was taste?" I asked. Can you imagine travel to the city? Just think of asking for directions to a particular museum:

"First, find the oily licorice line and follow it until you hit the minty thread. Follow that until you hit the curious blend of horse manure, ammonia and cranberry sauce, turn right and, somewhere around the pepperoni and tobacco swatch, you'll find the musuem. There was a beer-and-hot-dogs block party last night near the pepperoni and tobacco zone, so watch your tongue. Oh, and don't be fooled by the chocolate and cream crossing. That's just a tourist trap."

Indeed, if taste was humanity's dominant sense, just imagine how tricky it would have been for Noah to collect animals -- male and female -- for his Ark.

On second thought, don't imagine it.

(And don't try it.)

Peace and mirth.